Charity urges rugby fans to kick drink-driving into touch

THOUSANDS of sports fans in Sussex will enjoy watching man mountains do battle over the next six weeks in the Rugby World Cup.

And national road safety charity Brake is calling on them to tackle the danger of drink-driving in a bid to ensure their own safety as well as that of their passengers and other road users.

Gary Rae, campaigns manager, Brake, said: “As a charity that supports bereaved and injured road crash victims, we witness the suffering that drink driving inflicts, and appeal to everyone to help put a stop to it throughout the Rugby World Cup and beyond. “Drink driving deaths and injuries are cruel and needless, ending and ruining lives and leaving traumatised families to pick up the pieces. It’s a fact that even small amounts of alcohol increase your risk of crashing. During the Rugby World Cup we are urging drivers to commit to not drinking any amount of alcohol if driving and to ensure they and their friends can get home from watching matches safely.”

Drink-driving remains one of the biggest killers on UK roads. One in seven UK road deaths results from crashes where the driver was over the drink-drive limit. A further estimated 65 road deaths per year are caused by drivers who are under the drink-drive limit, but who have significant amounts of alcohol in their blood.

The charity is campaigning for a zero-tolerance limit in a bid to reduce the number of fatalities as a result of drink-driving.

Mr Rae said: “To stamp out the menace of drink-driving, we need the government to introduce a zero-tolerance drink drive limit, rather than asking drivers to do the impossible and guess if they are safe to drive. The law needs to make it crystal clear that drinking any amount of alcohol makes you a danger at the wheel. We also need the government to give greater priority to traffic policing, so we have a suitably strong deterrent.”

Advice issued by the charity includes having a sober designated driver if you’ve been drinking and having a plan B in case you are let down.

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